West Ham’s U21’s meeting with Liverpool ended in a 1-1 draw on Sunday, with both sides goals coming courtesy of own goals in a hard fought match at the AXA Training Centre.

The Hammers had the first chance of the game within the opening few minutes which saw Kamarai Swyer’s effort saved by Liverpool keeper Harvey Davies after a well worked move. Lanre Awesu made a number of important saves in the first half, keeping Liverpool at bay and the score level at 0-0. Mark Robson’s side’s last real chance of the first half came from a long range effort from Lewis Orford which curled wide.

In the second half, the game took an unexpected turn when a back pass from Isaac Mabaya rolled past Liverpool’s keeper Davies into the net giving West Ham a 1-0 lead. Liverpool pushed for an equaliser, and substitute Keyrol Figueroa thought he had pulled one back for The Reds. Figueroa intercepted a clearance from Awesu and the ball headed towards goal. The referee was quick to dismiss claims from the Liverpool players that the ball had crossed the line.

In added time, Liverpool were awarded a free kick. Hammers midfielder Lewis Orford headed the ball into his own net with the last kick of the game, which saw the game end 1-1 and unfortunately denied Mark Robson’s side an eighth successive PL2 win.

Speaking after the game, U21’s lead coach Mark Robson said: “I’m happy to come away with something as opposed to nothing, but it’s probably a little bit disappointing that we conceded so late.”

Robson went on to add: “I think we’re confident that with the games we’ve got left, we can keep on doing what we’re doing because I think there’s a real belief in the players at the moment.”

Mark Robson and his side will have been bitterly disappointed to drop two points so late on. That being said, West Ham’s U21’s unbeaten run now stands  at eight games, with the young Hammers continuing to showcase both the resilience and quality needed to have a strong end to their PL2 campaign.